Dedicated to David Thompson

Last year, Houston lost a bookseller and publisher who fueled the mystery community with his enthusiasm.

And since David Thompson’s sudden death, a veritable who’s who of mystery authors — all of whom he called friends — have been writing dedications and acknowledgments to him in their new books. For Charlaine Harris, Lee Child, Ace Atkins, Alafair Burke, S.J. Rozan, Robert Crais, C.J. Box, Deborah Crombie, Bill Crider and others, Thompson was the guy who knew them when, the guy who talked up their books to a discerning readership.

Thompson, a longtime employee of Murder By The Book and publisher of Busted Flush Press, died suddenly in his home on Sept. 13, 2010. An undiagnosed condition — sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease that can affect almost any organ — caused his heart to fail.

Charlaine Harris (Getty Images)

Thompson’s “intelligence, enthusiasm and encyclopedic knowledge of the mystery world made him a delightful companion and a challenging conversationalist,” Harris writes in the introduction to Damn Near Dead 2, a collection of noir stories published by Busted Flush Press. “Along with countless others, I feel cheated of the chance to continue our friendship.”

Harris, who writes the Sookie Stackhouse books on which HBO’s True Blood is based, told the Chronicle:

“I trusted his judgment implicitly. If he handed me a book and said, ‘You should read this,’ I read it. And if I emailed him to tell him to watch a new writer, he would find the book and tell me what he thought. David was enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and that made his opinion very important.”

Child’s new Jack Reacher book, The Affair, is dedicated to Thompson. In an email to the Chronicle, Child wrote:

“David was one of the small handful of people who really believed in my first book and put me on the map. I was grateful for that, obviously, but more so for his belief in the genre as a whole. In later years, we became good friends. We had dinner two or three times a year and I could always rely on him for excellent company, uninhibited enthusiasm, and detailed knowledge of books and the business in general. I am one of 100 authors who miss him very badly.”

Lee Child (Sigrid Estrada)

Atkins remembers Thompson in the acknowledgements of his latest book, The Ranger.

“David was a great friend and a supporter since I was first published 14 years ago,” Atkins told the Chronicle. “Before I started on a lot of projects, I talked to David about them. I respected his opinion that much. He was an absolute encyclopedia of crime fiction and really supported writers with a literary edge. His enthusiasm and passion for books got me excited about my own work. And I have found a much larger audience thanks to David Thompson.”

Thompson’s widow, McKenna Jordan, who owns Murder By The Book, is not surprised by the attention her late husband is getting. Though he would be surprised, she says.

“Every one of those authors is a close friend,” Jordan said. “We’ve had countless dinners and drinks with all of them. They did it because they love David.”

Thompson’s knowledge and passion in the store and at book conferences helped generate buzz about authors on their way from becoming unknowns to household names.

A particularly touching hat-tip to Thompson comes from his friend Duane Swierczynski in the acknowledgements of his recent novel, Fun & Games:

“Whenever I meet someone who’s read my stuff, more often than not — and I am not exaggerating here — it’s because David Thompson put one of my books in their hands and said, ‘I think you’ll really like this.’ I can hear him speaking those words now, in that wonderful Texas accent of his. He spoke those words often; he was a tireless promoter and supporter of crime fiction, and had this uncanny ability to match reader with novel. I don’t say this lightly: I owe my career to him.”

Ms Galehouse,
Thank you for this information about the relationship between authors and people who believe in them at an early stage in their career.
Sometimes we view successful authors as impersonal writing machines.
It’s good to know that they are human like the rest of us. Thanks

Once again, I think about David and I get a tear in my eye. He was easily one of the most warm, wonderful people I ever had the pleasure (ultimately bittersweet) to barely know. Not that that stopped him from introducing my wife and me to a wide, wide range of authors. The enjoyment that we have had as a direct result of David’s recommendations is impossible to quantify.

I still think the best tribute that I heard about David last year was someone (I don’t remember who), mentioning that if you went to Murder By The Book and asked David for a book for a friend, but the friend has very exacting tastes, she only reads stories about left-handed, blind, half-Argentinian detectives, David would think for a second, walk over and give you books from four or five authors that met that exact description. THAT was David.

I knew David 17 years. I thank God for his friendship. I finally found someone with the same passion for reading that I have. He opened doors to many writers that I may never have read. I am still grieving his death and I feel sorry for anyone who never had the chance to meet David. Thank you for this article. I am going to ne teary all day. Thank you to all the wonderful writers for acknowledging David.

David’s enthusiasm, knowledge, and personality made him more than a book seller. He became a friend over the many years that I have patronized MBTB. The repartee over books and authors made every visit a true pleasure. I sure miss him!

Independent book sellers are special because of people like David. Murder By The Book is a superb example of a book store with soul, and David was a key part of that. Many of the authors and their books noted in this blog grace my shelves, including the ones dedicated to David. It is a measure of the man when those who write the stories honor the foot soldiers, such as David, who make walking into the store and chatting about (and reading) their books so wonderful. I no longer live in Houston, but I make it a point to go by the store when I can. Thank you, David.